Team Anna crucial meeting in Ghaziabad

Ghaziabad (Uttar Pradesh): Amid a clamour for its revamp over allegations of financial conduct by some key members, the core committee of Team Anna today met here with Kiran Bedi asserting that there were no differences within the movement.

Hazare, who is on a vow of silence from October 16, is not attending the meeting which comes against the backdrop of a series of allegations against key members Arvind Kejriwal and Kiran Bedi as well as resignation of two prominent activists Rajinder Singh and P V Rajagopal citing the political turn taken by Hazare`s anti-corruption movement.

Prashant Bhushan, Shanti Bhushan, Kejriwal, Manish Sisodia and Bedi attended the meeting. Activist Medha Patkar and Santosh Hegde are not attending the meeting. Key member Kumar Vishwas, who had shot off a letter to Hazare demanding suspension of the core committee and its expansion, did not attend the meeting as he has left for Tokyo.

Ahead of the meeting, Bedi said there are no differences in the movement and they all want the Jan Lokpal Bill passed in the Winter Session of Parliament. "We are not afraid for fighting for our rights. We will definitely fight for the Jan Lokpal Bill. We are not going to be deterred by the attacks launched on us. We will continue our work," she said.

With two key members Patkar and Kumar Vishwas demanding "overhaul" of the Core Committee, journalist Raju Parulekar, who is Hazare`s official blogger, had said on Friday that the core committee of Team Anna will be expanded soon. He, however, declined to go into details of when and how the revamp will take place.

Parulekar had said that Hazare is contemplating forming a pan-India apolitical organisation to achieve his objective of a change in the whole electoral system.

"The new outfit would aim at not playing the game of election but to change the rule of the game of election," Parulekar had said, adding "it will be an apolitical organisation."

Though Patkar and Vishwas have not criticised Bedi and Kejriwal, who are facing flak over the running of their NGOs and their financial integrity being questioned, they have referred to the allegations faced by the Core Committee members.

"I don`t think there is a difference of opinion. The only thing is a bit of overhauling is certainly becoming necessary because there are a number of allegations and Core Committee members are being targeted," Patkar had said.